About Saint Louis' Downtown

Downtown St Louis saw an investment of 4.4 billion dollars in reinvestment between 1999 and 2008. During most of that time, the acronym "FHA" used in conjunction with home loans was mostly unheard of (see My Day at the FHA part 1 and Part 2). Having been developed during that time, there was no percieved need for loft buildings to be "FHA Approved" at that time. FHA insured home loans have always treated condominiums different than single family homes, having an complicated approval process. Once approved, FHA loans could be done on a building with "limited review," meaning that the underwriting was simplified and minimal information from the association was required to complete the loan. IN THE PAST, if a condo buildning wasn't approved, but was acceptable, it could go through the SPOT APPROVAL process, by which most loans downtown were done. In life, the only guarantee is change. In a past life, watching the ripple effects of government decisions trickle down often meant watching how the affected businesses would respond to the governments mandates. When the FHA changed thier guildelines, it seemed as if they were trying to make things easier overall. After all, why should EVERYONE wanting to buy a condo in an acceptable building have to go through a "spot approval" process over and over instead of just doing a bit more work and approving the whole building? Their goal was to simplify the approval process, stating that any Direct Endorsement lender could do the approval. What we're hearing is that these same Direct Endorsement lenders are passing the buck to condominium associations. In 2008, when I visited the FHA offices, I asked why a condo association or realtor couldn't just arrange for the approval. My question seemed to be confusing. "Why can't the lender just do it?" was the confused response. Of course, knowing lenders, I couldn't think of too many lenders that wanted to go through the public service of having a whole buildng approved just to do one loan. The attached picture file shows the requirments needed and most of the buildings downtown should do EVERYTHING THEY CAN to try to comply with these requirements to get thier building FHA APPROVED! Looking at the requirements I have some questions. More will be revealed when I get the answers. The basic fact that seemingly alludes condo associations is that the more difficult a condominium is to purchase, the longer it can take to sell and the stronger the buyer's chances of getting a better deal. While some buildings will have more buyers looking for FHA loans than others, it would benefit ALL buildings and downtown as a whole if condominium associations act now to get FHA approval for the next two years.

Old Post Office Plaza was completed downtown, my feelings about it were that it could be a great part of the city, or not. With the sculpture in it, I thought of the public plazas in Greece where Plato was taught by Socrates. I envisioned Tai Chi and farmers markets. I've been hearing rumors about the later use and am hoping for the best. My own neighborhood has a very nice farmer's market in Tower Grove Park that has become a weekly event for many of the neighborhoods surrounding the park (Shaw, Tower Grove South, Tower Grove East, Compton Heights & Southwest Garden). They've done a great job of not only presenting a nice market with entertainment, food and refreshments, but have also promoted the event to have a sizable following. Having a farmer's market downtown really is a win-win. Lots of Downtown residents go to Soulard Market, but having the market move to Downtown could be a potentially good thing for Downtown workers and visitors too. The real benefit of a Farmer's Market Downtown is the community aspect. Something needed downtown. Just a decade ago, downtown's residents were viewed more like a parasitic entity. News stories would refer to the "loft dwellers" and not the downtown neighborhood. Lots of community exists downtown, that's one of the major selling points to living there. It exists within buildings and at restaurants, bars and coffee shops. What a Farmer's Market could potentially do is bring the community out into the open. When the Partnership for Downtown St Louis hired its new President, Maggie Campbell, I reviewed the news clips promoting her past experience. One of the items was a Farmer's Market. At the time, I figured that with Soulard Market being so close, that it wasn't likely for downtown, but did think about either Schlafly Tap Room's parking lot and / or the Old Post Office Plaza as being good locations. Right now, things are just rumored.  The idea seems like it would work if it gets the support in needs by the residents.  republished from LoftsintheLou.com

Right now, I've had just about enough of foreclosures! Hearing that the Arcade Building is being foreclosed on was somewhat of a relief though and I'm not sure why. Maybe its because of what felt like a big "land grab" back in 2004-2006 as rival developers postured to see who could stake out the remaining gems downtown. Prices for abandoned buildings rose as high as $30/square foot. This surge in buying somehow seemed to force development downtown much too quickly and at to high a cost for the then market to support. By itself, completing the Arcade may not have posed a monumental challenge at that time, considering that the Syndicate Trust underwent a similar conversion. Going back to that time though, Pyramid was unable to sell out the remainder of the Banker's Lofts and had 50% of the Dorsa Lofts to sell also. Both of these projects were priced at less than $150/square foot(base price) while the the Arcade shows a price of just over $200/ square foot for a unit that included parking. The Post Dispatch article announcing the foreclosure blames the "nationwide housing collapse" for the foreclosure. That's as close to the truth as if the Culinaria purchased 4 times the amount of bananas it normally sells in a week and bumps the prices up 46% then blames the economy for the not selling. Ridiculous! I won't even touch the "housing collapse" comment except to say that a 20% drop in prices is hardly a collapse. Like so many people following this buildings history and future, my hope is that someone with a viable plan can step in once the building is priced right. This foreclosure just might be the first step in seeing that process move forward. Map of 800 Olive shows the location in the heart of downtown adjactent to the Old Post office and Metrolink Station. My take isn't more condominiums, but rather a custom build out for a corporate headquarters along with a slight mix of retail and possibly some apartments or corporate housing. With such a phenomenal building and perfect location, who could resist?

Remember when Ballpark Village, the MX Exchange and the Bottle District were all being unveiled and in competition with each other for the new hot commercial zone in downtown St Louis?  Having downtown built out in every direction with great new places to go seemed far fetched, but exciting.  How could it all come together.....could it all come together?

Obviously that answer was, " uh..NO".

This new bit of information was released today about some plans for the Bottle District site.

While the work HRI did on the Merchandise Mart Loft Apartments has been allegedly some of the worst construction downtown, somehow this new project is exciting.  The area to the north of the downtown area can really benefit from some affordable loft style housing and its obvious that the 'big picture' for the Bottle District won't come together as one giant plan as previously announced.  Building the area block by block will do.  While the Art Lofts, City Museum and the Syndicate have some great amenities geared for artists, downtown has still been limited in the area of affordable yet updated homes.    We'll see if this plan takes off.  In this day and age, building an effective plan to obtain financing is a long shot contingent on many factors. 

Lets just hope this plan includes soundproofed walls & floors!